Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 1, Issue 5, October 1985

Early Reports

page 4

Early Reports

It appears that the first report of coal in or close to Nelson was made by Arthur Wakefield who in November 1841 noted in his diary, a few days after coming ashore on what is now Wakefield Quay, the finding of small specimens of coal nearby. These and other indications of coal were observed and reported on by Dr Charles Forbes. Forbes was assistant surgeon on the paddle steamer HMS Acheron which in 1845–51 was engaged in surveying much of New Zealand's coast. That this survey was extremely successful was due not only to the ability of the Acheron's captain, John Lort Stokes and his officers and crew, but also to the versatility a steam powered vessel had over sailing ships. Thus the significance of coal in New Zealand was of more than academic interest to Forbes when he presented a paper to the Geological Society of London in 1855 on the geology and coal resources of New Zealand. However the reference by Forbes that "in the neighbourhood of Nelson, a fossiliferous sandstone is found, and seams of lignite and shale occur" was not very encouraging. The fossiliferous sandstone he refers to is that at Magazine Point and the lignite and shale are probably those at Wakefield Quay previously noted by Wakefield and which occur in what is now called the Port Hills gravel. Although the gravel outcrops extensively in the vicinity of Nelson the lignite proved to be present in uneconomic amounts although intermittent prospecting was undertaken at a few localities in this area. Therefore for fuel the early settlers would have to have used imported coal or locally obtained firewood. Undoubtedly wood would have been widely used and even up to 1872, some 10 years after it was built as part of an ill-fated chromite mining venture on the slopes of Wooded Peak, the Dun Mountain Railway was used to transport firewood to the city. However as the forests were felled, both for timber and to make way for pastures, it would have become more expensive as transport distances and therefore costs increased and coal, if found locally, would be a more viable alternative. In addition, if large quantities of coal were found then it could be exported thus generating additional capital and therefore spending power within the settlement.